Do I Need a Fire Risk Assessment After Lockdown?

It’s crucial that businesses across the country have rigorous fire safety measures in place. If you don’t you’re not only risking the lives of your employees, but criminal charges can be brought against you as well. 

As we (hopefully) edge towards the end of lockdown restrictions in the UK, many companies will be soon turning their attention to welcoming staff back into the workplace. While your attention may initially be on getting employees back into the office environment, it is also important to remain mindful of safety procedures.

This includes fire risk assessments, and our team at Millennium Fire Protection has put together a guide of things you need to look out for as you return to work. 

conference room in office

Should I have a fire risk assessment after lockdown?

In short, fire risk assessments are designed to assess the current fire safety procedures your business has in place. This includes how likely a fire is, what potential fire threats your building possesses and evacuation routes. The primary goal of a fire risk assessment is to keep you and your staff safe.

Local authorities can carry out inspections and fire risk assessments at any time so if you’ve recently returned to the office, or are doing so in the near future, you should think about carrying out your own to make sure you don’t get caught out. This way, if a fire risk assessment is sprung upon you, then you should be prepared.  

How has COVID-19 affected fire safety?

If you’re returning to your office or workplace, you’ll need to have COVID-19 safety restrictions in place. This could mean anything from staggered start times for employees to distancing between desks. Whatever procedures you’ve implemented, you’ll need to review your fire safety techniques to ensure they’ll still be effective. 

There are a number of factors you should be considering when it comes to how your coronavirus safety measures co-exist with your fire safety requirements. 

These include: 

  • If your business is operating with a smaller number of staff, are there enough people to safely coordinate evacuation plans
  • Can disabled employees still evacuate safely
  • If employees are working in isolated areas of the building, can they evacuate safely
  • Do you need to train more staff members to be fire wardens 
  • Has COVID-19 meant that your building now uses different entrances and exits, and are they fire safe

What do fire risk assessments cover? 

Fire risk assessments are designed to keep your staff safe- and they cover a whole host of different areas. 

Some of the things they check for include: 

  • Sources of fire hazards
  • Identifying people who are particularly at risk 
  • Activities that take place on the premises that could cause a hazard
  • Evaluate the risk and decide if your current safety measures are sufficient 

If the local authority deems that further measures are required, then it’s important that you do so immediately. If you don’t implement these recommendations, then legal action could be taken against you including an unlimited fine or even imprisonment. 

Millennium Fire Protection offer Fire Risk Assessments to London, Surrey & Hertfordshire

At Millennium Fire Protection, we offer comprehensive fire risk assessments to clients across London, Surrey, Hertfordshire and more. We can help your business meet all its legal requirements with a fire risk assessment that complies with the British Standards Institute and the UK’s current fire safety regulations. For more information, or to book a fire risk assessment contact our team today.